Saxon teaches students using a spiral-format that consistently reviews older concepts, adding more and more information to concepts they've previously encountered.

The teacher's edition contains all the information needed to teach the course through 140 fully scripted lessons that include child-friendly language and techniques proven effective. Each lesson includes four components: The Meeting, The Lesson, Class Practice, and Written Practice. Every fifth lesson includes a written assessment and every tenth lesson includes an oral assessment. Teaching math through a variety of hands-on manipulatives, this program is perfect for students who have a kinesthetic learning style. The included student workbooks and fact cards provide written practice sheets for each lesson, fact sheets, assessments, and color-coded fact cards. Children are given the appropriate tool as described in the lessons; fact cards and fact sheets are designed to provide students with additional practice and to give them the opportunity to use fact strategies from the lesson to solve problems.

Homeschool Specialists' Spotlights

When our daughters were young, we tried a number of different math programs, without success. One approach was overly simplified. Another lacked review; when early concepts showed up on a test, one daughter had no recall of ever having learned them. We switched to a third curriculum, but it was so repetitive with seemingly endless pages of problems, one of my daughters would despair at the prospect of having to do math each day. When a friend recommended trying Saxon Math, I was open to anything.

That was 20 years ago, and we haven't looked back! All six of my children have enjoyed and benefitted from using Saxon Math 3. With daily mental exercises, your students are memorizing key multiplication and division facts before they are even introduced formally, without realizing it. Already learned concepts are reinforced with fun and interesting story problems. With new concepts, just a few practice equations, and a variety of review exercises included each day, there is no opportunity for boredom.

Plus, you won't find pages of seemingly endless testing on the same concept. Instead, speed drills are offered, accomplishing the same goal in under five minutes.

I greatly appreciated the scripted teacher's guide. It gave me a clear format for the lessons and helped me feel confident in my presentation. The "Lesson Preparation" box at the beginning of each entry makes it easy to set everything up the night before so your sessions run smoothly.

The real strength of this program is in its focus on long-term memory retention through daily review. Creating a strong foundation in third grade gave my students the confidence they needed to carry them through independent learning of higher math in the upper grades.

A friend of mine who has young children recently thanked me for suggesting this program to her. It has turned their math experience from drudgery to fun, just as it did for my family. It is as relevant and effective now as it was 20 years ago.

Last year, our Math book, for my son, stank. It didn't give enough practice, and went on to the next lesson. My son was lost. He's in 4th, but he thought he didn't learn much at all. He requested that we do 3rd grade Math again, and of course, I agreed. We are going at a faster pace, and he's really enjoying it. He loves that I have a script to ask him questions and do certain activities. I love that time too! He and I feel that it gives him enough practice, (especially for the Math Facts), and he's feeling very confident with it. I'm SO glad that we tried Saxon Math. Our other kids have Saxon 2 and 7/6 and they all agree that they love the repeat practice. It was a little expensive for us, BUT WORTH IT! So pleased!

this is our first year homeschooling. and our first math curriculum. my son is in third grade, but i didn't feel he had a super grasp on math. i decided to take it slow and go with saxon 3. i bought this kit with the manipulatives hoping it would be more fun for him. it is working out very well for us. so far there havent been a lot of lessons including the manipulatives, but he loves it when we use them.

the math lessons are very straightforward and easy for both of us to use. so far its very remedial but it looks like by the end of the year he will have moved into new math territory for him

I love the program ! I am a teacher and have taught for 20 years. I taught in the public school system for 13 years. I have used the program for homeschool and in the public school system. The program is easy to use. I like how they have flash cards and basic math fact worksheets with it.

My son is very good at math and is eager to learn. Getting started was super exciting for us both. The beginning lessons for this book is so easy my 1st grader could do it. Actually it's more like kindergarten or preschool math. The first three weeks were a waste of time. Very repetitive.

Adding 0 and 1 are not exactly 3rd grade work. The other day we skipped ahead about 10 lessons. He knows this also but at least it's not insulting to him, which is what I was starting to think. Looking ahead through the book, it seems to get more geared towards third grade. I will continue to use it because I paid for it. I don't think I will purchase Saxon again.

We love all of Saxon Math! I used it when I was in school and now I am using it for my kid's math classes. The way they can pick right up with it and the way the curriculum reviews sets it apart from other math curriculum we have used in the past. I would highly recommend it to anyone for any grade level.